]]>UVa-Wise Professor Christopher Scalia has written an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal on the value of liberal arts education. In the piece, Scalia asks conservatives to stop bashing the liberal arts.

]]>http://www.uvawise.edu/2015/03/28/professor-scalia-work-in-wall-street-journal/feed/0UVa-Wise student surveys water treatment and healthhttp://www.uvawise.edu/2015/03/27/uva-wise-student-surveys-water-treatment-and-health/
http://www.uvawise.edu/2015/03/27/uva-wise-student-surveys-water-treatment-and-health/#commentsFri, 27 Mar 2015 21:59:30 +0000http://www.uvawise.edu/?p=8405Biology major Ran Tao could not locate statistics documenting the relationship between drinking water sources and gastrointestinal disease in the region, so she did her own study as part of undergraduate research. “I have a good friend who was doing research with Healthy Appalachia Institute and I was interested in doing undergraduate research too,” said...

]]>Biology major Ran Tao could not locate statistics documenting the relationship between drinking water sources and gastrointestinal disease in the region, so she did her own study as part of undergraduate research.

“I have a good friend who was doing research with Healthy Appalachia Institute and I was interested in doing undergraduate research too,” said Tao, a senior at The University of Virginia’s College at Wise. “One of my professors had mentioned there were water issues in the area that had occurred due to coal mining runoff and the lack of access to municipal water. I was interested in learning more.”

The rural Appalachian region often prohibits treated town water from being piped into homes, leaving residents to rely on private water supplies such as untreated wells, piped springs or cisterns. Without regular maintenance, testing and treatment, natural pathogens and contaminated wastewater from residents upstream can unknowingly infiltrate these private sources.

“We found there were a lot of people who just didn’t care about treating their water, and we wanted to test to see if there was a correlation between this group and gastro intestinal issues,” Tao said.

A formal survey focused on health history and drinking water sources was developed through a partnership with the Upper Tennessee River Roundtable to document water sources and the prevalence of disorders associated with contaminated private water supplies in the Guest River watershed, a major water quality concern in Wise County.
A randomly selected group of 300 Guest River watershed residents received hard copy and electronic surveys designed to provide information about if and how their method of treating drinking water was correlated to gastrointestinal disorders. A total of 37 completed surveys were returned with six falling outside of the targeted watershed area.

“The average age was 41 years-old,” she said. “Most had lived in their current residence for majority of their life. Five people responded they had been living in their residence for over 40 years.“

Tao found 67.6 percent relied on either municipal/treated water, 10.9 percent had water from a piped spring or cistern and 8.1 percent relied on belowground well water. Seven out of the ten private sources were not treated or filtered in any way prior to household use. More than 40 percent of private water supply users responded that they have experienced diagnosed or unidentified gastrointestinal illnesses in the past year. Two mentioned recurring cases of diarrhea.

“While our low sample size prevented a true statistical analysis of correlations between drinking water sources and gastrointestinal illness, our dataset provides a foundation for a more focused study,” she said. “The fact that several residents who experienced reoccurring gastrointestinal disorders tend to rely on untreated piped spring or well water does suggest that untreated private water systems may be correlated to residents’ gastrointestinal health.”

Tao, who is from Jinan, China, plans to continue her studies in graduate school, focusing on public health. She hopes to eventually work with an international group such as the World Health Organization.

]]>http://www.uvawise.edu/2015/03/27/uva-wise-student-surveys-water-treatment-and-health/feed/0Annual spring concert set for March 30http://www.uvawise.edu/2015/03/27/annual-spring-concert-set-for-march-30/
http://www.uvawise.edu/2015/03/27/annual-spring-concert-set-for-march-30/#commentsFri, 27 Mar 2015 16:56:30 +0000http://www.uvawise.edu/?p=8379The UVa-Wise Bands will present the annual spring concert on Monday, March 30 at 7:30 p.m. in the David J. Prior Convocation Center. The concert will feature the College’s Wind Ensemble and the Highland Winds. Works to be presented are: “Bolero” by Ravel, “Amazing Grace,” arranged by Frank Ticheli, “Where the Black Hawk Soars,” an...

]]>The UVa-Wise Bands will present the annual spring concert on Monday, March 30 at 7:30 p.m. in the David J. Prior Convocation Center.

The concert will feature the College’s Wind Ensemble and the Highland Winds. Works to be presented are: “Bolero” by Ravel, “Amazing Grace,” arranged by Frank Ticheli, “Where the Black Hawk Soars,” an original work by Robert W. Smith, “Spitfire: a tribute to the World War II British fighter planes” and “The Lord of the Rings,” arranged by Paul Lavender.

]]>http://www.uvawise.edu/2015/03/27/annual-spring-concert-set-for-march-30/feed/0Students hold candlelight ceremony for Taylor Readhttp://www.uvawise.edu/2015/03/19/students-hold-candlelight-ceremony-for-taylor-read/
http://www.uvawise.edu/2015/03/19/students-hold-candlelight-ceremony-for-taylor-read/#commentsFri, 20 Mar 2015 03:22:05 +0000http://www.uvawise.edu/?p=7848UVa-Wise students gathered by the lake Tuesday evening for a candlelight service in memory of senior Taylor Read, who passed away on March 7. Read, a business administration major, was described as an avid hiker who held a deep respect for the outdoors. His parents, Kelly and Paul Read, and his sister Megan, joined Taylor’s...

]]>UVa-Wise students gathered by the lake Tuesday evening for a candlelight service in memory of senior Taylor Read, who passed away on March 7.

Read, a business administration major, was described as an avid hiker who held a deep respect for the outdoors. His parents, Kelly and Paul Read, and his sister Megan, joined Taylor’s friends for the ceremony. Faculty and staff members and Chancellor Donna P. Henry also participated.

“He was well-loved by his fellow students and friends, and I know he was a kind and generous person,” Henry told the crowd.

Henry told those gathered that college gives students the opportunity to forge close ties and friendships, and stories she has heard in recent days prove that Taylor grasped those opportunities.

Jaime Robinson, editor of the Highland Cavalier and a fellow business major, said her friend was kind, energetic, spontaneous and comical when the occasion called for it. Taylor could be counted on to always ensure the class received extended time for assignments, and he always asked the questions that others were reluctant to ask, she added.

“I have cared deeply for Taylor for many years,” she said.

Megan Crabtree told the crowd that she had to meet Taylor after his friends kept telling her stories about him.

“Without a doubt, I had to meet him,” she said. “He was one of the most fearless, honest and unique individuals I’d ever heard of. He was someone who did not follow the given path; he created his own.”

Professor Frank Frey described Taylor as gregarious, forthright, polite and never afraid to speak up in class.

Counselor Rachel Rose, director of the Center for Student Development, urged those attending to reflect on the positive aspect of Taylor’s life and their positive relationships they had with him. She told the crowd to take time to grieve, and to remember that there is no specific timeline for healing.

“Unexpected loss can be very difficult to comprehend, leaving us asking why,” Rose said.

Shannon Walker, the Student Government Association president, concluded the ceremony by speaking of the importance for the college community to come together and comfort each other. Walker asked the crowd to place their candles in the paper luminaries as student Tim McDonald played “Amazing Grace” on the harmonica. Those attending signed a remembrance book the SGA purchased, and they wore green ribbons in memory of Taylor and his love of the outdoors. Walker asked the students to wear the ribbons for the rest of the week in Taylor’s memory.

The Read family will be given the remembrance book after students who could not attend the ceremony have an opportunity to share their memories of Taylor.

Photo by Dalena Adams

]]>http://www.uvawise.edu/2015/03/19/students-hold-candlelight-ceremony-for-taylor-read/feed/0Message from Provost regarding questions on the modified class schedulehttp://www.uvawise.edu/2015/03/17/message-from-provost-regarding-questions-on-the-modified-class-schedule/
http://www.uvawise.edu/2015/03/17/message-from-provost-regarding-questions-on-the-modified-class-schedule/#commentsTue, 17 Mar 2015 17:39:17 +0000http://www.uvawise.edu/?p=7843The following message from Provost Sanders Huguenin addresses many questions regarding the modified class schedule: Q: My classes are all caught up. Why do I have to have longer class days? Presently, we have about 2,000 students taking more than 700 classes. Each has a unique schedule. Under these conditions, having every professor independently scheduling...

Q: My classes are all caught up. Why do I have to have longer class days?Presently, we have about 2,000 students taking more than 700 classes. Each has a unique schedule. Under these conditions, having every professor independently scheduling two weeks worth of make-up activities on Saturdays and evenings would become very complicated. In fact, it would inevitably require students to be two places at once. This requirement would collide with the limitations of time and space, which I have not yet been able to defeat. Under these conditions, we have budgeted all classes time which they can use to catch up. Not all faculty will use this time or use it in the same ways.

Q: How do I read this new schedule?For most classes, it should be easy. Most are scheduled in one of 20 standard class blocks. The beginning and ending time of those blocks will change for the five weeks of April. MWF classes will become longer, increasing to 75 minutes. The break between classes will decrease to 5 minutes. This allows us to fit five days of class time in four days, Monday through Thursday. This leaves five successive Fridays in April free to replace five lost class days.

Q: When does this begin?The extended class schedule begins on March 30 and lasts for exactly five weeks, ending on May 1. This makes it shorter than Lent, deer season, boot camp, or most Peter Jackson movies.

Q: Will I be penalized for being late to class?The Department Chairs and I have discussed this issue at length. They understand that, for students with back-to-back classes, making it across campus may be challenging. Inevitably, some students will be a little late. Faculty understand the confines of the time-space continuum and are expecting some students to be late. Please try to be discrete and respectful.

Q: Does this mean that we will have class on Saturday?Maybe. We have scheduled two Saturdays (April 11 and 25) as optional make-up days for MWF classes. We did this at the request of faculty in courses like Pre-Calculus and Chemistry, who need to cover required material in order to prepare students for subsequent courses. It is up to each faculty member whether they choose to meet on these two days.

Q: I have an evening class, when will it meet?This is indicated in the schedule. My Tuesday 6:00-8:45 Western Civilization class will move to a later time. It will now run from 7:15-9:45. Moving the schedule as we have has affected night classes the most in terms of how far they have shifted from their original time.

Q: I have an impossible situation: the new schedule simultaneously puts me in a class at UVa-Wise and in a class at Mountain Empire. This violates the limits of space and time! What do I do?Please come talk to us in the Office of Academic Affairs and give us a chance to try to resolve it. Impossible situations are in our administrative portfolio.

Q: Will you give me a free iPad, if I send you a picture of a cat?I might, but it would have to be a really awesome picture of a cat. If you send me a pretty good picture of a cat contemplating the April 2015 schedule, I’ll send you a free tee-shirt that our interns designed.

The following questions all have the same answer:

Q: When the heck will my TR 4:00-5:30 class meet? It’s not on your schedule.

Q: I have a MW class. What do I do?

Q: I have a class that spans Blocks 8 and 9. This puts half my class on MW and half on TR. What do I do?

A: The short answer to these questions is to ask the faculty member teaching your course. The longer answer for future brain surgeons, digital entrepreneurs, hedge fund managers, and NASA engineers is as follows: We have only a few classes that do not follow the normal class blocks. However, in almost every case, these classes commit the space they are in for the entirety of the blocks they cross. In other words, a TR 4:00-5:30 class crosses blocks 17 and 18 – no other classes will be scheduled in that room during these blocks. This means that under the new schedule your faculty has a lock on their classroom for an impressive two hours and thirty-five minutes! This gives them a lot of leeway in how they want to schedule their class. They could almost show The Two Towers. It’s best to ask them when they want to hold class.

]]>http://www.uvawise.edu/2015/03/17/message-from-provost-regarding-questions-on-the-modified-class-schedule/feed/0Candlelight ceremony in remembrance of UVa-Wise studenthttp://www.uvawise.edu/2015/03/16/candlelight-ceremony-in-rememberance-of-uva-wise-student/
http://www.uvawise.edu/2015/03/16/candlelight-ceremony-in-rememberance-of-uva-wise-student/#commentsMon, 16 Mar 2015 20:27:37 +0000http://www.uvawise.edu/?p=7175Friends, family and classmates are invited to celebrate the life of UVa-Wise senior Taylor Read who passed away Saturday, March 7. A candlelight ceremony is set for 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 17, by the lake. The ceremony will feature luminaries and remarks from friends, Chancellor Donna P. Henry, Frank Frey and a representative of the...

]]>Friends, family and classmates are invited to celebrate the life of UVa-Wise senior Taylor Read who passed away Saturday, March 7. A candlelight ceremony is set for 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 17, by the lake.

The ceremony will feature luminaries and remarks from friends, Chancellor Donna P. Henry, Frank Frey and a representative of the Center for Student Development. Organizers will hand out ribbons in Read’s memory and encourage wearing the ribbons for the remainder of the week.

A remembrance book will be available at the ceremony for those who wish to share a memory or to offer condolences to his loved ones. The book will be placed in the atrium of the Slemp Student Center for the remainder of the week and will be presented to his family.

The event is being held to provide the campus community an opportunity to grieve, remember and heal in honor Read’s memory.

]]>http://www.uvawise.edu/2015/03/16/candlelight-ceremony-in-rememberance-of-uva-wise-student/feed/0Modified course schedule for UVa-Wise classeshttp://www.uvawise.edu/2015/03/16/modified-course-schedule-for-uva-wise-classes/
http://www.uvawise.edu/2015/03/16/modified-course-schedule-for-uva-wise-classes/#commentsMon, 16 Mar 2015 19:57:48 +0000http://www.uvawise.edu/?p=7197UVa-Wise will utilize a modified schedule for the month of April (March 30-May1.) This schedule will add back lost class sessions due to inclement weather closure. Please view the images below or the .pdf here for additional information and schedule.

]]>UVa-Wise will utilize a modified schedule for the month of April (March 30-May1.) This schedule will add back lost class sessions due to inclement weather closure. Please view the images below or the .pdf here for additional information and schedule.

]]>http://www.uvawise.edu/2015/03/16/modified-course-schedule-for-uva-wise-classes/feed/0Sexual Assault Awareness Week begins March 16http://www.uvawise.edu/2015/03/12/sexual-assault-awareness-week-begins-march-16/
http://www.uvawise.edu/2015/03/12/sexual-assault-awareness-week-begins-march-16/#commentsThu, 12 Mar 2015 18:53:47 +0000http://www.uvawise.edu/?p=7195UVa-Wise will hold various activities during the week of March 16 to bring awareness to the problems of sexual assault on college campuses. Sexual Assault Awareness Week, sponsored by the generous support of Verizon, features various programs offered by the Student Development Advisory Board, Office of Compliance and Conduct and the Student Government Association....

]]>UVa-Wise will hold various activities during the week of March 16 to bring awareness to the problems of sexual assault on college campuses.

Sexual Assault Awareness Week, sponsored by the generous support of Verizon, features various programs offered by the Student Development Advisory Board, Office of Compliance and Conduct and the Student Government Association.

John Foubert, national president of One in Four, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending rape, will speak to students on March 19 at 11 a.m. in the Chapel of All Faiths. Foubert consults regularly with the military and with colleges about applying research-based approaches to significantly lower rape in those communities. He is a professor of higher education and student affairs at Oklahoma State University.

The annual Take Back the Night event is set for 7 p.m. on March 19 in the Gilliam Sculpture Garden. TBTN focuses on eliminating sexual and domestic violence. In preparation for the event, students will gather on March 16 at 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the Jefferson Lounge to make posters for TBTN.

A safety talk is also set for March 17 at 2 p.m. in the Dogwood Room in the Slemp Student Center.

]]>http://www.uvawise.edu/2015/03/12/sexual-assault-awareness-week-begins-march-16/feed/0Investigation of water filtration technique provides clearer educational picture to UVa-Wise studenthttp://www.uvawise.edu/2015/03/11/investigation-of-water-filtration-technique-provides-clearer-educational-picture-to-uva-wise-student/
http://www.uvawise.edu/2015/03/11/investigation-of-water-filtration-technique-provides-clearer-educational-picture-to-uva-wise-student/#commentsWed, 11 Mar 2015 12:02:02 +0000http://www.uvawise.edu/?p=7190by Lanna Monday Lumpkins After researching new ways to filter heavy metals from water, senior Dalton Robinson of Woodlawn, Virginia is considering working in a lab as a teacher as he pursues a doctorate degree. “I took an organic lab during the summer and had discussed doing research with my professor, Trevor Makal,” said Robinson....

After researching new ways to filter heavy metals from water, senior Dalton Robinson of Woodlawn, Virginia is considering working in a lab as a teacher as he pursues a doctorate degree.

“I took an organic lab during the summer and had discussed doing research with my professor, Trevor Makal,” said Robinson. “I was really excited to do research, and we had talked about acid base theory a lot. I got really excited as it has real applications for some of the things that are going on around here.”

In coal mining areas, including Southwest Virginia, heavy metals are released into the water systems from acid runoff. Robinson theorizes that if there was a form of material that could filter out the heavy metals in a solid state, it could be more economical and require fewer steps.

“It is more of a chemical aspect of my chosen field,” said Robinson. “I just wanted to try it because it was relative to this area and it could be easier to work with. “

According to Robinson, the method used to filter out coal mine water runoff now adds a new material that binds to form a solid that is eventually filtered out the water.

Robinson did a lot of background research in the field to find something original. After finding studies on a stable structure called UI066, he believed it might apply itself to water in acidic conditions and so he went to work.

“We had to have a structure to allow a place for the heavy metals to bond,” he said. “We then designed ligands to catch the heavy metals. One came out as we expected and the other was different. The second has been sent for additional testing.”

Applicants for many graduate programs are being encouraged, and more often required, to have undergraduate research experience.

“Before I didn’t really know what I wanted to do or be, but this shined a light on helping me figure out where I wanted to go,” said Robinson. “When we talk about chemistry in class, we all think it is perfect, and when you do research you find out that not everything is going to work out like you think. It is easy to get discouraged, but that is part of it and you have to keep trying different things until you get what you want.”

]]>http://www.uvawise.edu/2015/03/11/investigation-of-water-filtration-technique-provides-clearer-educational-picture-to-uva-wise-student/feed/0Undergraduate research opens up new career choices for UVa-Wise studenthttp://www.uvawise.edu/2015/03/09/undergraduate-research-opens-up-new-career-choices-for-uva-wise-student/
http://www.uvawise.edu/2015/03/09/undergraduate-research-opens-up-new-career-choices-for-uva-wise-student/#commentsMon, 09 Mar 2015 16:05:04 +0000http://www.uvawise.edu/?p=7186by Lanna Monday Lumpkins Senior Bernard Manatu, a chemistry and biology major, is incorporating undergraduate research into coursework based on a previous study’s findings supporting an interaction between the proteins of two different DNA repair pathways known as Ku and Fanconi. According to Manatu, a Norton native, the cell lines used in a previous experiment...

Senior Bernard Manatu, a chemistry and biology major, is incorporating undergraduate research into coursework based on a previous study’s findings supporting an interaction between the proteins of two different DNA repair pathways known as Ku and Fanconi.

According to Manatu, a Norton native, the cell lines used in a previous experiment had died, so to in order to be able to show a correlation, a living cell line with one of the proteins missing from the Ku pathway was needed.

“Previous research using Hela cells had shown there was a linkage, but the cells that had Ku 80 died off because they had the double DNA strand breaks and could not repair themselves,” said Manatu. “So we were going to try to make a more stable line that could continually be researched.”

Although Manatu’s research was unsuccessful in preventing the Ku 80 protein from being manufactured by the cells, he now has more experience under his belt.

“The cells still made the Ku 80, which we were trying to get the cells to not do,” he said. “So we weren’t successful in making the cell line.”

As a result of his Hela cell and Ku 80 research, Manatu gained more insight into specific career specalizations he is now considering pursuing. His goal is to share his knowledge or use it to help better people’s lives.

“I would like to study molecular biology or biomedical engineering,” said Manatu. “Biomedical engineering would be taking what is learned in this field and applying it to the medical field such as creating prosthetics to help someone with a deficiency.”